These students are available for sponsorship! CPI Haiti has a free school in a rural village in Haiti and the school is funded solely by donations. By sponsoring a child you are giving him or her an opportunity to go to school. Please click on the “child sponsorship” tab to see how you can sign up today!

Raymond Esperan is 14 years old and in the 2nd grade. He lives with his mother, father, 3 brothers and 1 sister. He helps his family by working on the farm. His favorite subject is math and he wants to be a teacher when he grows up.

Lise Israel is 11 years old and in the 2nd grade. He lives with his mother, father, 1 brother, and 8 sisters. His favorite subject in school is math and he wants to be a teacher. He helps his family on the farm.

Angeline Gurerrier is 14 years old and in the 4th grade. She lives with her mother, father and 3 sisters. She help the family by mopping and washing dishes. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up. Her favorite thing to do when she is not at school is to play with her friends.

Jean Gardy Mesidor is 12 years old in the 4th grade. He lives with his mother, father, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. He helps his parents around the house and on the farm. He likes the color yellow. His favorite subject is math and he wants to be a teacher when he grows up.

Chery Wilner is 12 years old and in the 4th grade. He lives with his mom, 1 brother and 10 sisters. Helices to study and wants to be teacher when he grows up. Math is his favorite subject.

Claudia Chery is 15 years old and in the 4th grade. She lives with her mother, 2 brothers, and 4 sisters. She helps the family by cleaning. Her favorite thing to do is study history and geography. He wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

Darlina Inazard is 9 years old and in the 2nd grade. She lives with her mother, father, 4 brothers and 3 sisters. She helps the family by cleaning. She loves math and wants to own her own business one day. Her favorite color is blue.

Lovely Aristene is 9 years old and in the 1st grade. She lives with her mother, father, 1 brother, and 2 sisters. She helps her family by mopping and doing dishes. She loves the color green and wants to be an artist when she grows up.

The village of Chauffard is 20 miles from Port au Prince and in a remote, mountainous region where aid and assistance from the government or NGO’s is nonexistent. They are a forgotten people who live as farmers and have no electricity or running water. The closest water source is a strenuous 1 1/2 hour hike.

The great news is that we built a school and church in 2012 that we made storm ready. It was reinforced structurally to serve as a shelter and for that reason we had no one in the village injured during the storm. They were able to relocate to the shelter and were protected. A tree fell right next to our building but did not hit it.

One part of our school where the cistern is did get a tree that landed on it but fortunately it was minimal damage.

As far their tin roofed lean-to homes, there is not much left of what they had. Most of them lost their roofs and their belongings were drenched. Because they are resourceful and resilient, they were hanging out their clothes today to try to salvage what little they do have.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Much of it lacks trees because it is often used for charcoal. Many of the ones that did exist were lost during the hurricane.

The earthquake of 2010 was devastating to Haiti. Now Hurricane Matthew has destroyed what little they had rebuilt and what little they have. Their crops have eroded, their homes are damaged, and they already survive on small rations of food that they get from their small farms.

The rocky, muddy road we travel to get to Chauffard has eroded to where it is not usable in some spots.

The church and school near us lost their roof.

And still the Haitian people continue to persevere through the loss and the damage.

They desperately need our help to buy building supplies, begin to fix the road, and bring in tarps, food, and water.

Will you help?

You can give here on our website or go to www.cpihaitihurricanerelief.com

I often wonder if my life matters. I want to make sure that what I do has value and that my family’s resources are used for a greater purpose than ourselves.

One of the best ways our family invests in the global good is through our work with CPI Haiti. You can go to the tabs on this site and learn all about what we do. As a nonprofit, one of our main projects is our sponsorship program for our K-6th grade school. Sponsorship is $30 a month and there are students ready and waiting for sponsors. Just click on child sponsorship and you can browse through the students available and set up your account in less than 10 minutes! It is that easy. We hope you will invest in the life of a child in Haiti.

http://cpihaiti.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CPIlogo-e1427386928391-300x101.jpg00Jennie Ellishttp://cpihaiti.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CPIlogo-e1427386928391-300x101.jpgJennie Ellis2016-08-16 00:30:252016-08-16 00:30:25You CAN make a difference.....

We had an amazing trip! We have so many projects we are working on and cannot wait to share them with you! New students will be available for sponsorship this week and we need your help! Visit our latest blog here.

Our sponsorship program covers all the costs of running a school with one exception….. feeding the students. They spend a 6 hour day in the classroom (minus 20 minutes that they walk outside for recess without anywhere to play) and go home hungry. There are times that because of the generosity of loving people we have given them lunch for months. To see them with full bellies is the best feeling ever.

As we begin our new school year, we do not have the funds to feed the students. We are looking for one time donors of any amount and more sponsors. If we increase sponsorship, we can start to feed them regularly. You can go to the “child sponsorship” tab and sponsor a child. You will receive quarterly updates and photos and have a connection to a child in Haiti. Or you can click “donate” and give. It only costs 33 cents to feed a child lunch. Will you give?

We have been in Chauffard for 6 years now! I can’t believe it….we have learned from what we have done well and what we haven’t. Being in a different country with its own culture and set of challenges has grown me in so many ways. For lots of reasons, we have decided to make some changes to improve our relationship with the community of Chauffard and strengthen CPI Haiti.

1. The government has become more insistent on implementing requirements of the schools in Haiti and our school is following these guidelines. As a result, CPI is taking on more responsibility in helping the school meet these mandates. This requires additional work on the US side and more intensive work on trips to Haiti. It is a very positive change. Where before the government did not allow schools in Haiti to start before October, they are now starting schools in September. One reason for the change is that test scores 2 years ago were very low in the country (although we had 12 out of 13 pass) and the President is working on a plan to improve the educational system. Such a blessing!

2. The government is no longer giving a statewide test at the end of 6th grade. The school in Haiti and CPI are working hard to create a way to assess the students successfully at the end of 6th grade since their first official assessment will not be until 9th grade with the current changes.

3. Since schools will no longer be tested in 6th grade, they are making our schools K-9th grade. They are asking us to add these last 3 years of school to our existing school. We are not able to do so at this time because of funding but this is a goal we have for the next 18 months.

4. CPI has spent the last 6 years taking groups on trips. I know that this has blessed many. As we have reassessed our goals and our vision for the village of Chauffard, we have decided to no longer take groups. The amount of work for us (a staff of 1), the administrative challenges, the financial strain it puts on CPI, and the liability it creates for CPI and us as a family has proven to be too much. We will take task forces of a few people to assist me in work on the school and specific people if we have construction projects, medical clinics, etc. but at this time we will not be accepting groups. This may change over time but for now we need to steer our focus more intensely on the community and school in Haiti and work through the challenges there.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. My email is jensellis624@gmail.com.

We are excited about the future of Cornerstone School and CPI and I hope you will join me in prayer as we continue this venture.

Jennie Ellis

http://cpihaiti.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CPIlogo-e1427386928391-300x101.jpg00Jennie Ellishttp://cpihaiti.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CPIlogo-e1427386928391-300x101.jpgJennie Ellis2015-08-25 01:33:522015-08-25 01:57:21Redefining How We Do Mission

Jennie Ellis told the full story in an article on the Smile Train web site:

“Saintelise was an invisible child in an unknown village in rural Haiti. She was reclusive, shy, and bound to her home, except for the necessary trips to the market for her mom. Saintelise spent the first 14 years of her life feeling like she was unlovable and an embarrassment…”